Condenser for steam-driven machinery



Nov. 6, 1923. 1,473,449

R. o. STEARNS ET AL CONDENSER FOR STEAM DRIVEN MACHINERY Filed June 28I920 Patented Nov. 6, 1923, I

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, CONDENSER 63 stem- 23mm i m liE- w- 'Ap ncatimrmeqfn e 28, men sen in392,505.

Machinery, of which the followin'gjis a description, reference being hadto the accompanyi'ng drawingsyandto the'figures of referenceinarkedthereo'ni y This invei'ltion'irelates to condensers for steam drivenmachinery, and more "p'articu lai-lyto that type er condenser in whichthe steam is condensed bybeingbrought into intimate contact "with a.spray 'or' jet of water.

"The main object of this inventionis toprovide a condenser ofthecharacter above described wherein the condensation of 7 the steamcreates a; vacuum 111 the condensing in the steain exh aifst -"gnd'uit.I

"A further objectpf this'inventlon is to chamberthereb'y 'limi'n'atingvback pressure provide condenser or the'type described in stea'mand thewater of condensation are utilii'e'd to provide a water 'seal 'for thecondenser outlet, said outlet being constructed and arranged topermitthe water to escape withoutthe ingress of air" and in quantities'sufiicient to maintain thewater seal without the accumulation of excesscondensing chamber.

A further object of thls 1nvent1on 18 to water within the provide asimple condenser of the type described adapted to be readily attached tothe exhaust of steam driven machinery and the like. l

These and other objects will in part be oband will in art behereinafter-more r Vlous p r come through the connection, A from thesteam exhaustand iscondensed by the water 7 100 fact that the dischargeapertures H ofthe cast- Y fully disclosed.

a In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 illustrates one form of'theimprovedcondenser with the parts broken away showing r the interiorconstruction; Flgure 2 1s as ectionon line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring morecpartlcularly to the drawing, the condenser preferablycomprises a cylindrical casting E provided with an integral conduit Aadapted to be connected to thesteamexhaust of any steam discharge, butpreferably to the steam exhaust of a,

milk separator turbine for :which the present condenser hasbeenespecially designed,

inasmuch as in steam driventurbines, it {is essential'tha-tthesteam becondensed with out the, creation 'of a-. back,pressurej Preferably atitstop, the cylindrical :casting is provided with a water inlet B whichmay be,

if desired, either integral 'orseparably connected as by screw threadsorin any desired manner. This pipe B depends into the cast-' ing'and isprovided. with means for spray; ing the water into the steamflowingrinto These perfor'ations may be, either arranged, directly inthe conduitB itself, orflm'ay'be formed in the cap C closingthe open endof this pipeB. The lower end of the cylin- I i drical casting is closedby a capeDjwhich may be screwthreaded if desired on the end, h

may becast integral with the casting, or

connected in any well known manner; This I cap p is provided-withanopening F. for the dlscharge of the condensed water and -.a lso; astrainer plate Gr having the perforationsH, wh ch plate is clamped'inp'osition when the cap" D is threaded on the s ower end of thecylindrical casting-"E, flh'esize of the apertures H in this plateG-areof such proportions that their'combined capac- 1ty approximates thenormal amount ofspray Water ente o h the rip plus the water condensationfrom the:

ste m fl w n in throu h he i'p' e a i In the operation of the abovedevice, sufficient water is first permitted to flow through I r thepipeBwhich obviously is controlled by .a valve of any desired type, toprovide areservoir oraccumulation of water in the cylinder to cover theapertures H to provide a water seal therefor. Iniother words, more wateris allowed to flow through the pipe B than'canescape through theperforations of, the cap I); The steam is then'permittedto sprayedthrough the nozzle 0; In View of the ing are sealed by the body ofwaterwithin the 'cylindrical'casting, it is obvious that no'air 1 i canenterthe cylinder through these perforations, so that as the steam within thecylfinder is condensed-a7, vacuum" is formed,

which is at once maintained by theawater seal at the discharge aperturesH. The disthen regulated so that the amount dis-- charged therethrough;plus the Water of condensation from the steam turbine separator exhaustthrough the pipe A issubstantially equal to the amount or" waterdischarged through the apertures H in the cap D inasmuch as there wasformed in the bottom of this cylinder, a preliminary body of water toseal the apertures H, and inasmuch as this body of water will not besubstantially diminished or increased after the condenser begins tofunction, it is clear that the seal will be automatically maintained andthe water spray discharge and steam condensation discharge will bepermitted to'escape from the condenser.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a device of the present type isvery simple in construction and most effectively condenses the steamwithout the creation of a back pressure while, at the same time,muflling the escape of the exhaust and preventing its discharge into theatmosphere, which heretofore has been objectionable.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention 7 as set forthin the appended claims.

chamber to condensev the steam therein, an outlet for said chamberconstituting the sole outlet for said steampsaid discharge beingconstructed and arranged to permit the discharge of water and productsof condensawater and having a discharge capacity substantially equal tothe normal inflow of water plus the water of condensation.

at. A device of the character described comprising a casting having aconnection to a steam discharge, a water spray pipe'connected to saidcasting and dependingthereinto in position to spray the steam, saidcasting having a perforated portion located below the water spray andadapted to dis charge water tlierethrough while preventing the ingressof air into said casting.

5. A device of the character described comprising a closed chamberhaving a connection with a steam exhaust, means for spraying water intosaid steam Within the chamber, means forv automatically permitting thedischarge of said water plus the water of condensation, said meansmaintaining a vacuum within said chamber caused by the condensation, ofthe steam therein.

RALPH o. STEARNS. DANIEL E. MCGRA

